by Hamill, Ike
George had taken the sideview mirror from the truck.
Ricky tore it from the bag and spun, holding it out like a priest with a cross. He turned his head and squeezed his eyes shut so he wouldn’t accidentally gaze upon the thing.
“George! That’s it,” Alan said. “Come to me.”
Ricky felt his brother moving beside him. He heard Amber gasp and believed that she had been freed from the monster’s hypnosis as well. Ricky held his ground until he felt his brother move by him and then Amber grabbed his arm to pull him towards the stairs.
She whispered, “Don’t look, just slide to your left. There’s a step down.”
When his foot found the edge of the stairs, Ricky lost his balance. He thought he was going to tumble all the way down, taking the others with him. Instead, their hands found him and supported him as he blindly descended backwards. The housing of the mirror cracked. Ricky was squeezing it so tightly that the plastic seam gave way. If felt like they were descending forever. Their hands both supported him and guided him down. He heard Tucker’s tail wagging and knew they had to be close.
His mother said, “This way.”
“No,” Alan said. “We have to get back to the car.”
“Trust me,” she said. “I wish we could.”
Ricky opened his eyes.
Thirty-Five: Amber
“Did that light come on when the upstairs lights went out?” Amber asked.
She pointed to the purple light they could see emanating from the gaps around the dog door under the stairs.
“Yes,” Mary and Alan said at the same time.
“Then I think Mary is right—it’s safe that way.”
They moved as a group. Ricky still held the mirror out towards the stairs, but he wasn’t looking back to make sure it was working. Looking back was too dangerous.
Alan’s hand closed around the doorknob and Amber’s heart sank. She thought for sure he was going to say that it was locked and they were trapped at the end of the hallway with no escape.
Instead, he said, “Are we sure?”
“Yes,” Ricky said.
George nodded.
Alan opened the door.
When the purple light flooded out from under the stairs, something screeched above Amber and plaster dust rained down on her. She realized that one of them had been clawing its way across the ceiling, trying to sneak up on them. The light had driven it back into the darkness.
“He could be down there,” Alan said.
“I’m counting on it,” Mary said. She slipped past him and Amber heard her feet descending.
Up until that moment, Amber had figured that the door led only to a closet. She hadn’t bought into the idea that there was another staircase that led down to a basement. When Mary disappeared, that doubt was erased.
George followed next.
Ricky brought up the rear of their group. He pulled the door shut behind them.
The light stayed on. Amber realized that she had been absolutely convinced that when the door clicked shut, the lights would go off and they would be trapped in darkness again. The lights were mounted to the ceiling above her. They also glowed from between the treads under their feet—mounted flat against each riser.
“George,” Ricky said, “don’t touch anything.”
At the bottom of the stairs, Mary looked left and right before she headed off to the right. Amber felt trapped on the stairs with walls on either side and people above and below her. There was nowhere to run. When she descended low enough, she glanced into the room on the left. It was a strange combination of pantry and bathroom. There were shelves of dry goods, but also a big sink next to a toilet. The whole space was lit up with bright white light that was almost soothing after all the purple, fuzzy light that had been assaulting her eyes. When she was convinced that there was nothing hiding in the pantry bathroom, Amber turned right and followed George and the others.
Her eyes met Ricky’s and he looked as confused and concerned as she felt.
Turning to her right, Amber saw Mary rush across the floor.
Tucker was more cautious. Ricky ran to catch up with the dog as he made his way to the place under the stairs. There was plenty of light coming from under there, but the way the dog was moving—nose to the floor and tail perfectly still—it was clear that there was something in that space.
Amber followed Mary. An old man was lying fully clothed on a small cot. Amber knew who it must be, but she couldn’t align the attacker from the garage with this feeble man on the cot.
“Be careful, Mary,” Amber said.
“Mom,” George said. He reached out to hold her back as she leaned over Romeo Libby.
“Tucker, hold on,” Ricky was saying to his dog.
Alan seemed to be the only sensible one of the bunch, in Amber’s opinion. He was scanning the perimeter of the room, looking for possible entry points and tracing the wires that supplied the lights with power. Amber joined him at the far wall, where a bank of car batteries sat on shelves.
“Even if they cut the power…” Alan started to say.
“It’s not enough,” Amber said. “They do that tapping thing and they can shut off switches from a distance, or they hypnotize people into doing it for them. We’re not safe, even with all these lights.”
George had joined the conversation.
“The noise,” George said. “That white noise generator I accidentally turned on in the dining room. There are switches all over the place, I’ve seen them. I’m thinking that any of the light switches that look dark brown are actually for turning on the white noise.”
He pointed towards the panel at the bottom of the stairs. “There’s one there.”
“Don’t touch it,” Amber said.
“I wasn’t going to.”
Alan was already headed that direction, but he didn’t reach for the switch. The electrical box was mounted right to a stud, so Alan could follow the wire that led from it. He traced it through to the pantry bathroom. Amber turned at the sound of metal clinking and saw Ricky coaxing another dog out from under the stairs. Tucker was now wagging his tail, trying to engage with the other dog. His enthusiasm was returned slowly.
“I think he’s right,” Alan said, coming back in. “Looks like that switch controls an audio system.”
“You’re sure?” Amber asked.
“It’s not wired to the lights. I’m sure of that,” Alan said.
“Give it a shot then,” Amber said.
Alan flipped the switch and they all looked up at the sound above them. It was muffled by the floor, but they could definitely hear the sound of static up above.
“It works,” George said.
“That remains to be seen,” Alan said.
# # #
“What’s that, Romeo?” Mary asked, raising her voice. “Speak up?”
They gathered around where Mary was kneeling next to Romeo’s cot. Tucker stood at the back of Ricky’s leg, protecting their backs. Albert wormed his way in close to the cot and pressed his head up under Romeo’s hand. The old man’s face softened when he felt the dog’s fur under his fingers.
“You stole my life. He’ll be here soon,” Romeo whispered.
“Who?” Mary asked.
Ricky put a hand on his mother’s shoulder. “Don’t trust him, Mom. He always lies.”
“Romeo, tell us what you’re talking about. If you lie to us, we’ll know.”
Romeo shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them again, a tear ran down one of his wrinkles.
“Prescott is coming. Nothing stops Prescott,” Romeo said. “He’ll bring me back. I’m sorry.”
“Why were you doing their bidding?” Ricky asked. “Don’t try to pretend you’re sorry. You tried to sacrifice us.”
Romeo shut his eyes again and nodded. His face was contorted with pain.
“I did,” he whispered. “They made me do it.”
“Who cares about his regrets,” Alan said. “Romeo, you’ve bee
n helping them all these years—tell us how to get out of here.”
Romeo shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Ricky asked.
“They’re my brothers and sisters. Marie was my wife. I can’t…” Romeo whispered.
“What’s even wrong with this guy?” George asked. “Why are we taking his word for anything? Less than an hour ago, he was zapping us and choking people unconscious. He only looks helpless because he’s laying down.”
Mary looked back at her son and shook her head. She reached across his body, picked up Romeo’s wrist, and let his hand flop back down. Then Mary motioned to the right of her own face. Once she made that gesture, Amber looked closer at Romeo and she thought she understood. The far half of Romeo’s face was slumped and unresponsive. That’s why he was so difficult to understand. He looked like he had suffered a stroke.
“Don’t open the house,” Romeo said. “The ivory switches open the window locks.”
“Too late,” Ricky said. “How do we shut them again?”
“You can’t,” Romeo said. “They know how to turn off the lights upstairs.”
Ricky and George exchanged a glance.
“What’s so special about Prescott?” Alan asked. “Why do you say that nothing can stop him?”
“He’s not one of them,” Romeo said. After a long pause, he swallowed and said, “he’s the father of all of them.”
“That doesn’t explain anything,” Amber said. “We know how he found the original lizards and probably how he got infected. We know that he spread it to his family. Why would that possibly mean that he can’t be stopped?”
“He’s not a person or a creature anymore. He’s a spirit,” Romeo said. “He channeled that evil energy from some other realm and it infused his soul and took over. He’s a giant well of power that the others tap into to fuel their own evil. Turn me over to them. I deserve it.”
After saying this, Romeo seemed to fade out. His muscles became slack and his mouth fell open. His eyes looked up at nothing.
“Hey, Romeo, where’s your phone?” Mary asked. “You have to have one around here.”
George began searching around. “Over here, Mom.” Over near the workbench, he picked up a handset from a cradle and put it to his ear. “It works.”
Romeo blinked, startling Amber. She had thought he was already dead.
“No. You’re lying,” Ricky said. He reached out and squeezed Romeo’s shoulder. “You just don’t want us to succeed because you know we’ll kill them all. Now that your life is ending, you want to go join them and live forever as a monster.”
Romeo shut his eyes again, squeezing out another tear.
“No,” he said. The word came out like a slow groan.
Shaking him more, Ricky became convinced that Romeo was done speaking. Ricky straightened up and Amber went to him.
“You think he’s lying?” Amber asked Ricky.
Ricky nodded. “About being able to end Prescott—yes. About the rest, I’m not sure.”
Ricky continued. “We know he harbored some of them here, and it seems like we were right. He was their human servant.”
“Because he felt a duty to them,” Alan said.
“Duty, or guilt, or love,” Amber said. “Doesn’t matter.”
“And he tipped his hand when he said he deserved to be taken by them. I’m guessing that’s the bargain he cut with them. He would protect them for as long as he could and then when he was too old they would take him into the fold.”
“He would have to be crazy to believe them,” Ricky said.
“And we would have to be crazy to believe any of it,” Amber said.
Mary and George joined their circle.
“If we assume that everything was a lie, then maybe there is a way to activate the lights upstairs,” Ricky said. “George and Alan, can you see if you can figure that out?”
“I’ll see what I can find to fight with,” Amber said.
Ricky nodded and turned to his mother. “Did you call for an ambulance for Romeo?”
She shook her head. “Of course not. You think I would risk anyone’s life by bringing them into this? He made his bed. Let him lie in it.”
“Who did you call then?”
“Your father,” Mary said. “He was headed to Jan Libby’s house. I told him to come here instead.”
# # #
Amber used the tools from the workbench and some of the wood that was laying around. She was able to make a half-dozen good stakes and spears of different lengths. She found a couple of flashlights as well. She lined everything up near the stairs.
“Okay,” Alan said. “We found the panel for the locks and lights. We think that we have all the upstairs windows locked out, and we’re certain that at least some of the lights are on.”
Amber cocked her ear to make sure that the white noise was still coming through the speakers upstairs. The sound seemed to fade into the background noise when she wasn’t specifically listening for it.
“How’s he?” George asked, pointing at Romeo.
“Unconscious,” Mary said. “Pulse is weak. It’s just a guess, but I don’t think he has much time.”
“If he really did have a deal with them,” Ricky said, pointing upwards, “then they may try to get to him before he dies.”
Amber opened her mouth to ask how the creatures would know of Romeo’s fate, but then decided not to say anything. It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that there was some connection between the monsters and Romeo.
“Did anyone find his zapper?” Amber asked.
Ricky shook his head.
“I would feel better knowing where it is,” she said. “Even if we can’t use it against them, I don’t want any surprises.”
“We’ll keep our eyes open upstairs,” Alan said. “So what’s the plan on getting out of here?”
“Vernon should be here in fifteen minutes,” Mary said. “When I talked to him last, he was just pulling out of cellphone range, so we won’t know for sure until we hear him honk his horn.”
“We might not hear it with the white noise,” George said.
Mary nodded. “So maybe we give him a little extra time. In case Alan’s car has been disabled, we all might have to squeeze into our SUV. It will be tight.”
“Especially with two dogs,” Ricky said. The look he gave his mother suggested that it wasn’t up for debate whether or not they were taking Albert with them.
“So maybe we should try to steal Romeo’s truck?” George asked.
“I saw the keys in it,” Amber said.
“Good,” Ricky said. “So we’ll have between one and three vehicles. We just have to get to them.”
“We think the circuit for the lights is on,” George said. “When we connected it, the other lights dimmed just a bit, so I’m guessing they’re drawing power. Same thing with the lockouts upstairs, which doesn’t help with the monsters already in the house but it stops more from coming.”
“If you’re bringing him,” Mary said, pointing at the dog, “then find something to use as a leash. He’s not going to come otherwise.”
Ricky looked at Albert and seemed to reconsider his earlier resolve. Then, he moved to the workbench and began to search around.
“Everyone has to carry flashlights and at least one stake,” Amber said, pointing to the arsenal that she had assembled. “Remember, you probably won’t see them unless you have lights at several different angles. It’s their camouflage that makes them so difficult to kill. If you do end up spotting their eyes, it’s too late. They hypnotize you with their eyes.”
“Some of them can take away your consciousness completely,” George said to his mother.
Alan nodded at that.
Ricky returned with a length of rope that he knotted to Albert’s collar.
Mary used a roll of tape to secure one of the flashlights to a long spear.
“I left the bag of seed in the kitchen,” Alan said. “Before we left, I thre
w a bunch around so the floor might be slippery if they haven’t picked them up yet.”
“Are we sure the seeds work?” Mary asked.
Alan said yes at the same time that Amber was saying no.
“In the room,” Amber said, “they were slowed, but some of them made it to us anyway.”
“For the most part…” Alan stared to say.
“That’s not the question. We don’t care what works for the most part. We can’t afford to take any chances.”
“Hopefully the lights will be on up there and we won’t have to take any chances,” George said. “The UV lights in the kitchen are probably on, and there are more in the garage. That just leaves the shed.”
“That’s more than enough darkness for them to take advantage of,” Amber said.
“But we’re on the kitchen side this time,” George argued. “We can open the door and let that light shine down the hall. Besides, we already took care of…”
Ricky silenced his brother with a raised hand to demand that he stop arguing.
“One step at a time,” Ricky said. “We get to the top of the stairs, open that door and see. We know for sure that the UV lights in the stairway work. That’s enough to start.”
Amber glanced around their circle. It appeared that they were all as ready as they were going to get.
# # #
Amber led the way up the stairs. She couldn’t imagine not seeing for herself what awaited. Behind one of the others, she would have panicked.
She turned the knob and let the door swing towards her. She froze at the sound of a moan from behind her. It was Romeo. Amber guessed that it might be the last sound he would ever make. She heard Ricky jerk the rope that was attached to Albert’s collar. The dog wanted to retreat but Ricky wouldn’t let him.
Using her light, Amber made sure that there was nothing above the door. The fuzzy purple light was spilling from the doorway and there were hardly any shadows in the hall next to the stairs. The first part of their journey would be low risk.
Still, she came out slowly and double-checked every angle before she waved for George to follow. The dogs came next with Ricky. Alan and Mary brought up the rear. Tucker came forward until Amber put her hand out. The dog understood to stay back.